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Four out of five Australians aged over 65 receive a full or part pension, and when the concessionary health card is taken into account, just 14 per cent receive no government payments.

And despite spending billions of dollars in taxation benefits for superannuation, this situation is unlikely to be much different in 2050.

On top of this, aged care is the eighth largest spending category and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme is 10th.

"The reality is that faster economic growth by itself will not be enough to put the budget back in the black," Mr Hockey said.

The economy would have to grow at 5.25 per cent annually to get back to surplus in five years, a rate that hasn't been sustained since the 1960s and is double the government's current forecasts for the next two years.

Neither will the problem be solved by increasing taxes.

In the absence of personal income tax cuts, Australians will face an increasing burden as inflation gradually pulls them into higher tax brackets.

A fiscal consolidation program will be revealed in the May budget that will establish a clear path back to a surplus of one per cent of GDP by 2024.

"But I want to emphasise that the May budget will not be the end of our efforts, it will only be the start," Mr Hockey said.